Stability of critical bubble in stretched fluid of square-gradient density-functional model with triple-parabolic free energy

Abstract

The square-gradient density-functional model with triple-parabolic free energy, that was used previously to study the homogeneous bubble nucleation [J. Chem. Phys. 129, 104508 (2008)], is used to study the stability of the critical bubble nucleated within the bulk under-saturated stretched fluid. The stability of the bubble is studied by solving the Schr\"odinger equation for the fluctuation. The negative eigenvalue corresponds to the unstable growing mode of the fluctuation. Our results show that there is only one negative eigenvalue whose eigenfunction represents the fluctuation that corresponds to the isotropically growing or shrinking nucleus. In particular, this negative eigenvalue survives up to the spinodal point. Therefore the critical bubble is not fractal or ramified near the spinodal.